September 17, 2020/InvestmentOne Report

Please click to download the Market Report for Thursday 17^th September 2020

EQUITY:

·       The Nigerian equities market closed down by 0.07% today as NSE-ASI closed at 25,532.74pts.

·       However, in today’s trade, market breadth index was positive with 17 gainers vs 11 stocks on the losers’ chart.

·       Today’s performance was mainly due to the losses recorded in TRIPPLEG (-9.09%), CAVERTON (-8.60%), DANGSUGAR (-5.88%), CUSTODIAN (-5.21%) and LIVESTOCK (-4.92%) which offset the gains recorded in INTBREW (+10.00%), WAPIC (+9.09%), NPFMCRFBK (+8.33%), ROYALEX (+7.41%) and ACADEMY (+7.41%).

·       Sector performances were mixed today as the Banking (-0.36%) and Oil & Gas (-0.19%)  sectors closed negative, while Consumer Goods (+0.07%) and Industrial (+0.05%)  sectors closed in green territory.

·       In terms of activity levels, while total volume increased by 9%, total value decreased by 13%, compared to yesterday as investors exchanged over 231million units of shares worth over N2.10billion. FBNH (-1.01%)was the most actively traded stock with about 33million units of shares worth about N165million.

·       The equities market closed down today on the back of the losses recorded in the Banking and Oil & Gas sectors. Going forward, we expect investors sentiments to be tepid in the absence major news flows that may sway the direction of the market. Nonetheless, we reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long term investment horizon. 

CURRENCY: 

·       At the IEFX window, while the Naira lost by 0.25% and 0.13% against the EUR and GBP to close at N454.00 and N497.60 respectively, against the USD, it closed flat at N386.00.

·       At the parallel market, while the Naira lost by 0.93% against the EUR printing at N545, it gained 0.64% to close at N462 against the USD. However, against the GBP it closed flat at N595.

·       Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies.

FIXED INCOME:

·       Money market rates dropped today as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates declined by 200bps and 175bps to 1.50% and 2.25% respectively.

·       The bond market was somewhat positive today as yields decreased on some instruments. While we witnessed the yield on the 5yr benchmark bond decline by 20bps to 4.81%, the yields on the 7yr and 10yr benchmark bonds rose by 8bps and 20bps to close at  7.63% and 9.08% respectively.

·       In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation.

Below are key NSE statistics as at the end of trades: